Technology has immensely transformed the landscape of books and reading for book lovers and readers. We have dedicated reading apps, reading devices and just about anything digital provides us with capability to read and do so much more. Even this "paradigm shift" that has occured in the domain of books has not deterred the "traditional" book lovers to swear by paper based books. These category of readers still go gaga over the touch and feel of a book in hand. They are smitten by the Bibliosmia bug, which refers to act of "smelling" books. For a traditional book lover or readers nothing can beat the aroma of a book in hand and that may be one key reason for print books to be still in circulation.Bibliosmia is not merely the act of smelling books; it's about the sensory experience that a reader gets, the aroma through the nostrils that fills his/ her mind, body and soul (sorry if it appears like extrapolating :)! ).
Ever wondered how this smell gets generated in a book !
The phenomenon of Bibliosmia is indeed very interesting - there's a science behind the wonderful sweet smell or enticing odour that emanates from the book and leave us fascinated. The paper contains cellulose and small amounts of lignin and lignin is responsible for the yellow colour of the paper. There is a stark difference in the smell of old books compared to new books and this is due to the various chemical reactions that take place in the paper over a period of time. A detailed explantion of the process can be read in the wonderful article at http://bit.ly/2kP7MPV
If you thought this was all about Bibliosmia then hold on, there's a lot more that Bibliosmia can achieve other than just spell-binding book readers. Book conservationists/ preservationists are now using the aroma/ smell of books to judge the age of the book, get insight on the degradation of the paper and in identifying ways to preserve the text.
The following links give a detailed explanation about the same.
Let the aroma of books keep lingering in us !
